Matthew Poole and continuators on Judges 18:19

19 And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thy hand upon thy mouth , and go with us, and be to us a father, and a priest: Is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe, and a family in Israel?

i. e. Be silent, as this Phrase is used, Iob 21. 5. and 29. 9. and 40. 4. Prov. 30. 32. The same thing repeated in other words.

See on Iudg. 17. 10.

To wit, a tribe, that is, (and being oft put for that is) a family. For it is certain this was not an expedition of the whole tribe, which numbred 64000 men, Num. 26. 43. but only of one family, which it seems were more vexed with the Philistines or Amorites, and therefore resolved to seek new habitations at a great distance from them. And after this time we find the Body of the Danites in their old and proper portions in Sampson's time, which, though placed before this, was long after it.